The Dallas metro area's light rail network, already the country's largest with some 85 miles of track serving 13 cities in a 700-sq-mile area, is still growing. When Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) completes the system's latest expansion, expected in 2014, it will exceed 90 miles of track—nearly double what it was just five years ago.
The system's growth trend took a major jump in December 2010 when DART opened its Green Line, a $1.8-billion project that expanded the rail network by 28 miles. Two years later, the $360-million, five-mile Blue Line extension from Garland to Rowlett opened. The first two sections of the $1.3-billion, 14-mile Orange Line also opened in 2012, and work on a $150-million, 5.2-mile final section is now under way and set to finish by the end of next year.